New blackjack shop – best blackjack strategy books
September 18, 2008 by Orfej
Filed under Blackjack tips
Orfej opened new gambline shop – new blackjack shop . Read about blackjack strategy books, all kind blackjack gambling resources. You can search biggest blackjack database.
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Blackjack card counting software online and free – blackjack strategy online
September 5, 2008 by Orfej
Filed under Blackjack tips
Orfej.com provide blackjack card counting software few weeks ago. Till now hunderds downloads and a lot of mails help us to understand how is this blackjack system important.
we deceide to make php/javascript/MySql version of this software so you can use blackjack card counting software online :
Blackjack software – card counting online
Of course, how to use, where and when – read at : blackjack strategy software .
Write comment if you need anything….
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Card counting in blackjack
March 13, 2008 by Orfej
Filed under Blackjack tips
Most card counting systems start with a count of 0. This means that when you first sit down at a blackjack table, the count is 0. Depending on which counting system you are using, this count will fluctuate with every card that is dealt. You must keep track of not only the cards that you are being dealt, but every single card dealt to every player and to the dealer.
With most card counting systems you are looking for a positive count. When the card count is positive, this generally means there have been more smaller cards played and the deck now has a higher percentage of larger cards. When the deck has a high percentage of larger cards, the player has several different advantages:
* Dealer Will Bust More Often
* Player Will Be Dealt More Blackjacks
* Player Will Be Dealt Stronger and Higher Starting Hands
When a card count is high, the player bets larger amounts of money because they have a higher mathematical advantage. The card counting doesn’t stop here, though. Even when you are betting more and winning more, you still must focus and continue to count cards flawlessly. Once the high count starts to drop and gets either neutral or into the negative, you go back to betting smaller amounts because the casino now has the higher advantage.
How Can I Become Skilled at Card Counting?
The only way to become a skilled card counter is to practice, practice, practice. It can take several months if not several years to truly master several of the card counting systems mentioned above. You need to be constantly practicing your card counting techniques and skills until you can count flawlessly. Keep in mind you don’t have to be playing blackjack to practice your counting techniques. You can practice your counting methods anywhere.
One very effective method of practicing card counting is to create practice counting charts. You can create a chart that show your hand and the dealer’s up card, then you verbally or mentally recite the proper play. If you get stumped, simply refer to your basic strategy charts. Practice charts can be small enough to fit into your wallet so that you can practice card counting wherever you are.
Which Card Counting System Should I Use?
With several different card counting systems available, people often ask which card counting system they should try to learn, but it is often dependent upon each individual and their knowledge of the game. There is generally not a specific answer on where everyone should begin. Many factors determine which system you should use, such as what type of games you play, where you play, your skill level, and how many hours you are playing.
For beginning players, as a rule of thumb, it is recommended that you learn the most basic system first, either the Hi-Lo count or the KO count. These systems of card counting are generally the easiest to learn. Make sure to practice this system thoroughly before moving on to the more complex systems. It can often take months, if not years, to learn how to master blackjack card counting.
Generally, the advantages of the more complex card counting systems compared to the more basic systems are fairly slight, around 0.15%.
History of Card Counting
Card counting first originated when Professor Edward O. Thorp began revising basic strategy in 1962. Through mathematical computation, Thorp realized that whenever a deck was low in 5′s, the player had more of an advantage than if the deck was low on any other cards. Card counting started when players would attempt to keep track of how many 5′s had been dealt, so they would know how many 5′s were still remaining in the deck.
This system was the first basic blackjack card counting strategy and it is known as the “Five Count.” The strategy was later revised to also account for the number of 10 cards in the deck and was known as the “Ten Count.”
The legality issue of card counting is a common topic around casinos and the game of blackjack. I’m definitely not a lawyer, so take this information in stride and make sure to do thorough research if investigating the full laws and regulations of card counting. The act of card counting at a physical blackjack table with your brain alone (without using any counting devices such as computers and electronics), is considered to be perfectly legal and is not considered cheating.
However, most casinos will not allow a known card counter into their blackjack games and will generally ask card counters to leave if they are caught counting during a game. Since casinos are private property, they have full authority to ask players to leave and to not return if they are caught counting cards in blackjack. They cannot take legal action, but they can force you off their premises and ask you not to return.
High cards – tens, Jacks, Queens, Kings and Aces – are good for the player and low cards – 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 are bad for the player. By keeping a ratio of good cards to bad cards the player can make an assessment of whether the cards still to be played will benefit or hurt them. Many people hold the mistaken view that card counting requires incredible intellect or a photographic memory – this simply is not true. Whilst the first card counting systems developed by Edward O. Thorp in the middle of last century were clumsy and difficult to apply, they quickly evolved into much simpler methods that far surpassed their predecessors in terms of effectiveness.
In this article I am going to look specifically at the Hi/Lo counting system. I would however recommend that anyone seriously intending to learn to count cards does some research before they begin. There are a multitude of different legitimate counting systems available today – ranging from the simplest unbalanced systems – to the far more complicated multi-level count systems with various side counts. I have chosen to focus on the Hi/Lo count as I feel it to be the best balance between power and simplicity and it has the greatest durability for extension to more powerful strategies.
Running Count
The Hi/Lo count assigns the following card values: 2-6 (the low cards) +1, 7-9, 0, and cards 10, J, Q, K and A (the high cards) -1. Start the count after the shuffle at 0 and every time you see a card with a face value of 2-6 add one to the count, if you see a card valued 7-9, do nothing and every time you see a 10 or A subtract one from my count. The resulting number is called the Running Count (RC) and this indicates how many extra high or low cards have been dealt. When extra low cards have been dealt (i.e. the count is higher than 0) it means that there are extra high cards still to come and consequently the deck is more favorable to the player. For example, if the following combination of cards was dealt during the first round of play:
Player 1: A,10
Player 2: 3, 7
Player 3: 8, 9
Player 4: 5,9
Player 5: 4,6
Dealer : 10
It should be counted as follows. The RC starts at 0; player 1 has 2 high cards so the RC is now -2; player 2 has 1 low card and one neutral card, the RC is now -1; player 3 has 2 neutral cards so the count does not change; player 4 has 1 low card so the RC increases by 1 to 0; player 5 has 2 low cards so the RC increases again to 2; finally, the dealer is showing a high card so the RC drops by one, resulting in an overall RC of 1.
True Count
We now require a method that can quantify just how favorable the remaining cards in the deck are for the player. Each extra high card in a deck of cards adds 0.5% to the player’s advantage, so we need to know how many extra high cards per deck remain to calculate our exact advantage. This is especially important as today the game of Blackjack is rarely played using a single deck, far more often it is dealt using 4, 6 or 8 deck shoes. To work out how many extra high cards remain per deck simply divide the RC by the number of decks left to be played. This new number is called our True Count (TC) and gives us an assessment of how advantageous the remaining cards are to the player. So if the RC is 15 and there are 3 decks still to be played simply divide 15 by 3 to get a TC of 5. Similarly, a RC of 8 with 2 decks remaining would result in a TC of 4 and so on.
House Advantage
There is however one fact that we have yet to account for – namely that the player always starts at a disadvantage. This is how casinos make money in the first place. What we need to know now is at what point the player overcomes this initial house advantage. To calculate this we must analyze the rules of each specific game of Blackjack we are considering playing. The number of decks of cards being used in a particular game (1, 4, 6 or even 8 ) should also be noted. As this is just a short article on the subject and I have no desire to re-invent the wheel, I will instead refer you to a fantastic website designed to calculate the house edge (this website has a huge amount of quality information on every casino game imaginable and is well worth looking through – Michael Shackleford is a highly respected and knowledgeable member of the gambling community): http://wizardofodds.com/blackjack.
A little down from the top of this page, under the heading ‘Rules of the Game’, is a link to the house advantage calculator. Use this to calculate how much of a disadvantage you will start with for the specific game you intend playing. If the disadvantage is 0.5%, or less, subtract 1 from the TC before calculating your bet. If the disadvantage is 0.75%, or more, subtract 1.5 from the TC. If the initial disadvantage is any higher than 0.75% you should not be playing the game at all. By adjusting the TC to take into consideration the initial house advantage the TC becomes an accurate assessment of the advantage a player has at any give point in a specific game of Blackjack.
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Top 10 blackjack tips – how to win at blackjack
February 13, 2008 by Orfej
Filed under Blackjack tips
1. Understand that blackjack has some of the best odds in the casino, even if you don’t know how to count cards. The odds change based on the playing situation, but most casinos offer a blackjack game with a house edge of between 0.5% and 1%, if you’re playing with perfect basic strategy. Some game conditions are truly awful though, and we talk about those in some of the other tips on this page.The game is not possible to beat consistently. This may be the second most important of all the blackjack tips to remember you can’t always win. Accept that losses are a part of the game. This will help your mindset as much as anything and will keep you focused on your playing, keeping your skill level up.2. Learn basic strategy. In blackjack strategy , when someone talks about basic strategy, they’re talking about the mathematically correct play in every given situation. Some situations are positive expectation situations, and some situations are negative expectation situations, but you do have choices. You always want to choose the option with the best mathematical advantage for you.Start with the basics, Since the dealer has to hit on any hand 16 or lower, you will never win with less than 17 unless the dealer busts. Take a hit on any hand below 17 when the dealer shows ace, K, Q, J, 10, 9, or 8, cards that are unlikely to make the dealer bust. Stand on any hand above 11 when the dealer shows a 4,5, or 6, cards that will lead then dealer to bust more than 40% of the time.
3. Learn to count cards. Counting cards isn’t as hard as you think. You’re not actually tracking specific cards, but instead, you’re giving certain cards a score, and keeping a running score that represents the ratio of high cards to low cards. The more high cards left in the deck, the more you should bet, because you’re more likely to get a blackjack.Find a table whose minimum is no more than 5% of you total stash. In picking a Blackjack table, consider rule variations that help the player like the option of doubling down on any two cards, or the dealer having to stand on soft 17. Even if you do not completely understand them, these rule variations can work to your advantage.
4. Don’t play 6/5 blackjack. Ever. In a normal blackjack game, a blackjack pays off at 3 to 2. This is one of the reasons the odds and payout percentages for the game is so generous. But in 6/5 blackjack, the casino only pays $6 for every $5 you bet. So a $10 bet, which would normally pay off at $15 for a blackjack only pays off at $12 on a 6/5 blackjack table. This increases the house edge (which is already between 0.5% and 1%) by 1.39%, which makes blackjack a far less attractive game.
5. Don’t play blackjack if the casino charges an ante per hand. In some parts of the country (like Oklahoma) casinos will charge a 50 cent ante per hand. This doesn’t seem like much, but it adds a tremendous amount to the house edge. In fact, if you’re playing for $10/hand, you’re giving up 5% back to the casino. You’d be better off playing roulette.
6. Don’t tell other people how to play. Even if you’re telling them the right way to play, they won’t believe you, and they won’t like it.
7. Don’t pay attention to other people who tell you how to play. Anyone who doesn’t follow rule #26 above probably doesn’t know how to play correctly anyway, But if you’re paying attention, and you’ve learned basic strategy the way we told you to in tip #22, you won’t have to worry about it, because you’ll already know the right play in every situation.
8.Never deviate from basic strategy based on a hunch. The math doesn’t change just because of a gut feeling. And heaven forbid that you deviate from basic strategy and actually win, because then you’ll remember that, and you’ll go down a slippery slope where you’ll be betting wrong all the time.
9. Always split aces and eights. This is part of learning basic strategy, but it’s such a simple rule to remember that we had to include it in our list of blackjack tips.Blackjack “Doubling down” involves doubling your bet and receiving one additional Blackjack card when your suspect strongly that you’ll beat the dealer by doing so. This is the player’s chief advantage, so do not ignore this option. Doubling with 10 against a 9 or lower and with any hand of 11. Rules permitting, double with 9, or with “soft” hands (hands that count an ace as 11) of 13-17 against a 4, 5, or 6.
10. Never split fours, fives, or tens. Another basic strategy guidelines, and also an easy one to remember. Although a lot of people get confused about splitting tens, since it’s a reasonably good thing to have a ten. (That still isn’t the correct play though.)
On the end : Know when to walk away. A winning streak on a blackjack table can not last forever. Set a table limit for yourself and if you find yourself losing, take a break and save your remaining profits for another session.What do you think ?
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How Blackjack Can Help Your Poker Bankroll
February 6, 2008 by Orfej
Filed under Blackjack tips
It sounds counterintuitive — that playing blackjack online can contribute to the health and wealth of your poker bankroll. How can a game in which the house wins in the long run (the house edge in an eight-deck shoe can be about .43 percent) make you money in the long run? The answer is online casino incentive bonuses. Poker players who don’t take advantage of this “free money” are hurting themselves in the long run.
Online casino bonuses work very similarly to how online poker bonuses work: you deposit a set amount (say $100) and you get a bonus from 20 percent of your deposit up to 100 percent or more. (Golden Palace Casino offers a whopping 300 percent bonus up to $300!).
In order to cash out the bonus, you have to play a certain number of bets at the online casino. This is called the Wager Requirement and you can find out how much you must wager in bets in the Terms and Conditions for a particular online casino’s promotion. If you’re playing blackjack, then you have to play a certain number of hands based on your bet.
In the Golden Palace example above, suppose you deposit $100 for the maximum 300 percent bonus of $300. Now you have $400 in your online casino account, but you must fulfill a Wager Requirement (also called a WR) before you can cash out the $300 bonus.
Reading the promotion’s rules, the Wager Requirement is the sum of the deposit and the bonus times 20. So that would be: ($100 + $300) x 20 for a WR of $8,000. So that means you must play $8,000 worth of casino games such as blackjack before you can cash out the bonus. If you played $2 hands of blackjack, you’d have to play about 4,000 hands (the actual amount would be less because every time you split your hand or doubled down, those extra bets you must make would also count toward the WR).
Other good bonuses include InterCasino, which offers a 100 percent monthly bonus up to $100. The WR for this promotion is $2,500 and you can even play poker on their sister site, InterPoker, to help clear the bonus. Online casino 32Red also has a nice 100 percent welcome bonus up to $100. The WR here is 50 times the deposit plus bonus or $10,000.
Don’t know how to play blackjack? That’s ok. You can use existing reference Web sites on the Internet that come complete with a chart of how to play your hand. The one I like to use is Wizard of Odds.
Before you continue, you must always calculate whether the bonus will be profitable, given the game you are playing and the WR. If you decide you want to play blackjack to clear the Golden Palace Casino bonus, you’ll find that this is acceptable under the site’s Disclaimer (only craps, roulette, baccarat or sicbo) are not allowed. You can research your game’s house advantage by using the Wizard of Odds reference site.
If blackjack has a house advantage, say, of .43 percent, you can calculate how much of the bonus you’ll be able to cashout once you finish the WR by doing a little math. Multiply the house edge times the WR to find out how much money the house is expected to keep if you use a basic strategy chart like in the Wizard of Odds. So in this case, .0043 x $8,000=$34.40. Subtract that minus the bonus to find out if it’s profitable: $300- 34.43= $265.60! Just by depositing money and playing blackjack, you can expect to cash out $265.60 in free money! I tried this at Casino Bellini.
In future articles we’ll look closer into other online casino promotions and whether it’s good to play other kinds of casino games. But with careful reading and a little math, you’ll be able to determine if a promotion is a good bet and you’ll watch your poker bankroll swell in no time..
The object of Blackjack is for the total of your cards to be closer to 21 than the dealer’s cards, without exceeding 21. In Blackjack, aces count as either 1 or 11, face cards as 10, and number cards as their face value.
If you receive an ace and a ten-value card as your first two cards, you have Blackjack and win one and a half times your bet (if you bet was $10, you receive $25). If the total value of your cards is closer to 21 than the dealer’s, you win as much as you had wagered (if your bet was $10, you receive $20). If the total of your cards is more than 21, you “bust” and lose your bet. If you and the dealer have the same card total (17 and up) neither of you win and your bet is returned to you in a “push”. Blackjack beats a score of 21.
| ur hand | Dealer’s face-up card | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | A | |
| Hard totals | ||||||||||
| 17-20 | S | S | S | S | S | S | S | S | S | S |
| 16 | S | S | S | S | S | H | H | SU | SU | SU |
| 15 | S | S | S | S | S | H | H | H | SU | H |
| 13-14 | S | S | S | S | S | H | H | H | H | H |
| 12 | H | H | S | S | S | H | H | H | H | H |
| 11 | Dh | Dh | Dh | Dh | Dh | Dh | Dh | Dh | Dh | H |
| 10 | Dh | Dh | Dh | Dh | Dh | Dh | Dh | Dh | H | H |
| 9 | H | Dh | Dh | Dh | Dh | H | H | H | H | H |
| 5-8 | H | H | H | H | H | H | H | H | H | H |
| Soft totals | ||||||||||
| 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | A | |
| A,8 A,9 | S | S | S | S | S | S | S | S | S | S |
| A,7 | S | Ds | Ds | Ds | Ds | S | S | H | H | H |
| A,6 | H | Dh | Dh | Dh | Dh | H | H | H | H | H |
| A,4 A,5 | H | H | Dh | Dh | Dh | H | H | H | H | H |
| A,2 A,3 | H | H | H | Dh | Dh | H | H | H | H | H |
| Pairs | ||||||||||
| 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | A | |
| A,A | SP | SP | SP | SP | SP | SP | SP | SP | SP | SP |
| 10,10 | S | S | S | S | S | S | S | S | S | S |
| 9,9 | SP | SP | SP | SP | SP | S | SP | SP | S | S |
| 8,8 | SP | SP | SP | SP | SP | SP | SP | SP | SP | SP |
| 7,7 | SP | SP | SP | SP | SP | SP | H | H | H | H |
| 6,6 | SP | SP | SP | SP | SP | H | H | H | H | H |
| 5,5 | Dh | Dh | Dh | Dh | Dh | Dh | Dh | Dh | H | H |
| 4,4 | H | H | H | SP | SP | H | H | H | H | H |
| 2,2 3,3 | SP | SP | SP | SP | SP | SP | H | H | H | H |
The above is a basic strategy table for 3 or more decks, dealer stands on soft 17, double on any 2 cards, double after split allowed, dealer peeks for blackjack, and blackjack pays 3:2. Key:
- S = Stand
- H = Hit
- Dh = Double (if not allowed then hit)
- Ds = Double (if not allowed then stand)
- SP = Split
- SU = Surrender (if not allowed, then hit)
Our Blackjack follows the standard “Las Vegas Strip” rules, with the following exceptions:
1. After each round, used cards are returned to the deck and the deck is shuffled.
2. The player may not split a split hand.
3. The player may double after splitting.
4. The dealer will not check for Blackjack in any case.
5. If the player doubles and the dealer’s first card is of value 11 (ACE), and the dealer gets blackjack, the player loses both his bets.
Split
If your first two cards have the same point value, you may split them into two separate hands by placing a second bet equal to the original bet. You then proceed to draw cards. You may draw as many cards as you like on each split hand, but if you split two aces, you receive only one additional card for each ace. If you receive an ace and a ten-value card in a split hand, it is counted as 21 and not Blackjack.
Double
After you are dealt two cards, and think that another card will allow you to beat the dealer’s hand, you can increase your bet by an amount up to your original bet or “double” your bet. Your wager is doubled, and you are allowed to receive one more card.
Insurance
Insurance is considered to be a game of its own within Blackjack. If the dealer has an Ace as his up card, you’ll be given a chance to buy insurance. When you buy insurance, you’re betting that the dealer has a blackjack. It allows you to try and protect yourself when you think that the dealer may have Blackjack. When buying insurance, you place half of your initial bet by pressing the Insurance button. If the dealer does have Blackjack, you are paid 2 to 1 on your insurance bet. If the dealer doesn’t have Blackjack, you lose your insurance bet.
10 Card Charlie
It is theoretically possible for the player to draw 10 card without going bust. In this case the player’s hand automatically wins, except when the dealer has Blackjack.
The object of Blackjack Switch is for the total of your cards in either hand to be closer to 21 than the dealer’ s cards, without exceeding 21. Card values are the same as in standard Blackjack – aces count as either 1 or 11, face cards as 10, and number cards as their face value.
The rules are the same as in standard Blackjack (see here). Except you have two hands, which you play in turn – first the right and then the left one, then the dealer plays his hand. You may split, double, take insurance etc. just like in standard Blackjack. An exception from the standard Blackjack is that the dealer always hits soft 17 – meaning he always draws one more card when he has 17 with an ace counted as 11. Also, ‘Blackjacks’ pay 1/1 instead of 3/2 although more ‘Blackjacks’ are created due to the ‘switching’ option. (See below). Another exception is that Blackjack rule no. 5 (“If the player doubles and the dealer’s first card is of value 10, and the dealer gets blackjack, the player loses only the initial bet.”) does not apply in Blackjack Switch.
Switch
Prior to any hits, you may switch the top cards of your two hands.I read this rule at Blackjack Bluebook II – the simplest winning strategies ever published
Push 22
Dealer will “push” on a total of 22 (except ‘Blackjacks’ will still win). This means that whenever the dealer’s total reaches 22 then all bets are ‘pushed’, regardless of their total except if a player has a ‘Blackjack’, which will still win.
Super Match
The small circle between the standard bet areas is the super bet area. The super bet wins if your initial 4 cards contain 2 or more matching cards. For example, if your right hand is a Queen and a Six, and your left hand a Queen and a King, you have a pair and your super bet wins. The win ratios are written on the table.
Summary Of Rules
Dealer Hits Soft 17
‘Blackjacks’ pay 1/1
Switch top cards of the two hands
All doubles and splitting allowed
Dealer pushes on 22 (except Blackjacks will still win)
